The Wedge isn’t exactly an unknown peak: it’s visible from most of Anchorage and is easily accessed from Glen Alps. But it is often strangely overlooked. Guidebooks tend to lump it in with the Ramp, even though the two peaks … Read More

« Trip Reports on Winterbear.com Portage Glacier Calving Report and analysis of a March 2019 calving event at Portage Glacier March 6, 2019 There are many metaphors for the sound of a glacier calving: A rifle going off. Trains colliding. … Read More

Bold Peak(7,600 ft.) Stivers’ Gully Route: 14.7 miles each way, 7,561 ft. elevation gain. Difficulty: Class 3-c4. My time: 10.5 hours round trip ▼KMZ Bold Peak’s cliff-laced summit towers over the southeast end of Eklutna Lake, and to a casual … Read More

« Trip Reports on Winterbear.com Cantata Boots and Boats 20.3-mile hike and packraft loop around Cantata Peak, in Alaska’s Chugach State Park September 8, 2018 The September 2018 heatwave was so intense that Alaskans started referring to it as a … Read More

Purchased September 2017, reviewed August 2018 The Abisko Trail T-Shirt is a “lightweight trekking” lyocell-blend base layer from Swedish company Fjällräven. At $60 retail this is about as expensive as a short-sleeved base layer top gets, but last year I … Read More

« Trip Reports on Winterbear.com Blackbird Traverse 25.3-mile variation on the Bomber Traverse backpacking route, in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska August 24-26, 2019 In early August I found myself at the Snowbird Glacier Hut, poring over the Bomber Traverse … Read More